Hacking Through Tokugawa

This may be a shocking admission - but I've never actually sat through all of Kill Bill... not even one of the movies. Oh, I've watched bits... but not enough to make me stick with it. So I had not given any thought to the notion that Second Life would include a bunch of ladies who liked nothing more than hacking each other with Japanese swords.

Following a suggestion from Lem Skall, I went over to Tokugawa - actually a 6-sim island - expecting to find an interesting Japanese construction under way. It is certainly that - as you can see from the pictures below - but it is also a popular spot with "killbillettes", all merrily marshalling their martial arts in pursuit of the perfect kill.

At the moment there appears to be 2 completed buildings - the castle and the temple - with more under construction. The castle was quite peaceful when I went - with one person practising their moves on the matting inside. It is an impressive piece of work, occupying almost all of the Entourage sim. I liked the scale and complexity of the castle, and the indoor textures were rich and detailed. The main action, however, was at the temple, where a small crowd were gathered to hack lumps out of one another.

Elsewhere there appeared to be an incomplete tournament venue (middle picture below) - but this seems to require only a little more to complete it. Floating above this was an odd sort of spider's web construction. Its purpose was not at all clear. Furthermore, around the perimeter of the "web" is a picture gallery that I can only suggest the more God-fearing of you, or those of a genteel disposition, should best avoid. I will say that these pictures would suggest that the users of this site are... how should I put this?... "ladies who like ladies (and preferably in ponygirl outfits)." And for pity's sake, don't venture to the higher platform, where many of these "virtual photographs" were evidently taken.

But back to more prosaic matters... why "Tokugawa"? Fortunately, a notecard provides the necessary information: "The Tokugawa shogunate was a feudal military dictatorship of Japan established by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family. This period is known as the Edo period and gets its name from the capital city of Edo, now Tokyo... SL Tokugawa... is here for the enjoyment of our guests and their friends. You will find a varied landscape designed to promote relaxation, play, and exploration." The notecard goes on to request you follow a few simple and sensible rules to ensure that everyone can enjoy the site.

It's already an impressive build - whether you like Japanese sword-play or not. I hope to see how it develops. One small point, I noticed that there was an "out of period" motor-boat on one of the sims, in breach of the guidelines. tsk tsk!